Judge DeLaughter and the Lott Telephone Call

Senator Lott made a phone call to Judge Bobby DeLaughter. He had heard Judge DeLaughter wanted to become a federal judge. Doesn't every state court trial judge want to become a federal judge -- the benefits and working conditions are really quite nice. Was the call some sort of quid pro quo to get Judge DeLaughter to rule in favor of the interests of Richard Scruggs? Pretty doubtful. Maybe it was a Scruggs effort to get his brother-in-law to flatter Judge DeLaughter, to soften him so that he would think favorably of Mr. Scruggs. This sort of stuff, I suspect, happens all the time in the world of politics and the politics of the judicial fraternities these days.

So, Judge DeLaughter took the call, maybe he was even flattered (one finds it hard to think one would be flattered by a call from Senator Lott, or any senator -- they are not people who are above us lumpen electorate), but not a bit of this causes suspicion as far as I am concerned.

One wonders whether the prosecutor is going to use this call by Senator Lott to play on the illusions of members of a jury panel. It's a game, you see.

Judge Bobby DeLaughter and Earwigging

The government is going to have a tough row to hoe to convict Judge Bobby DeLaughter.

It is going to have to show that DeLaughter knew he was being bribed, knew that he was actually knowingly involved in the efforts of Richard Scruggs and his cast of characters (at the time well thought of by the community and the sub-community of lawyers) to influence him.

My guess is DeLaughter will show he was being "earwigged." Earwigging has a rich tradition in Mississippi. It is the only state that has specific rules devoted to trying to minimize earwigging. The Mississippi judicial conduct commission proceedings are replete with conduct involving ex parte contact between judges and litigants and others – earwigging.

The evidence at the DeLaughter trial will include all sorts of facts about the extent earwigging takes place in Mississippi. We will learn judicial cases are, in essence, political events whereby the judge treated like a composite of individuals making up a legislature. We will learn that lawyers and litigants and their friends have routinely contacted judges about cases and have done so in a host of imaginative ways. That is, that judges are routinely lobbied about the cases before them. We will learn that money does not have to change hands. We will learn that judges dearly like to be loved and thought well of by members of the community, members of the community they respect.

We may even learn what P. L. Blake was doing for his $50 million and what the hell Patterson was doing for his $80,000 per month.

Judge Lackey: Questions, Something Does Not Ring True

I am still confused and suspicious of how the FBI got to Dick Scruggs. The agent for the FBI was a Mississippi Circuit Judge, Henry Lackey.

Judge Lackey was assigned the Jones v. Scruggs case. The day of the assignment he entered an ex parte order sealing the case file. Common law makes case records public records. He signed the order because the lawyer for Jones, a man named Tollison asked to sign the order.

Next, a Tim Balducci calls Judge Lackey. He contends the case should be sent to arbitration. Balducci is a friend of Dick Scruggs.

Here is where it gets interesting. On more than one occasion on the Folo Blog commentators have said that Judge Lackey thought he his actions might be under surveillance. Supposedly, he waited about two weeks before he said he went to the United States Attorney who then put him in contact with the FBI.

One commentor said that Judge Lackey became physically ill after his meeting with Mr. Balducci.

What I am struggling with is why Judge Lackey would become physically ill or, if not physically ill, emotionally distraught. I wonder? Did Judge Lackey really think that he might be under surveillance? Why would he have thought that? Was he aware of what was happening or possibly happening regarding Judge DeLaughter in the Wilson case?

Why would the judge think that he might be under surveillance? Did the judge have a reason to think his conduct, in the past, and as a judge might have caused someone to become suspicious of him?

From the judge's testimony and public statements it does not seem that he was troubled very much by what Tim Balducci had asked him to do, if he had really ask him anything. He did not seem to be the type of guy who would be come physically ill because a lawyer may have earwigged him.

That he became ill because Balducci approached him is, well, it its beyond reason.

So, why did Judge Lackey become ill? Why did he think the FBI may have been surveiling him? Was it because he was talking to Balducci and he thought the FBI may have been surveiling Balducci? But if that was the case why did he wait so long to go to the US Attorney. Was it because he had been the situation before? Was talking to judges "out of school" a common practice everywhere, in Calhoun County? Did the judge know something about the Peters, Langston, Balducci, Judge DeLaughter situation in the Wilson case?

Does the out of court politics of law in Mississippi have a much deeper significance that anyone is willing to admit to?

Something is not quite right. And, it also seems of interest that Judge Lackey is being lauded for his efforts and that the Mississippi Bar association is giving him awards. Why is all this happening so fast?

Much more is to be unravelled.

Earwigging is Lobbying (And Judicial Corruption)

It seems clear the judicial culture in Mississippi commonly accepted the cultural phenomenon of earwigging. To earwig a judge means to talk privately with a judge about common things between the judge and the talker, to influence, to get a judge to go the way of the earwigger.

Earwigging is lobbying. It is similar to the efforts a lobbyist makes to sway legislator to the lobbyist's point of view. It is private and it is personal. More often than not it does not involve bribery. And, of course it does not have to involve bribery.

A few days ago, a New York lawyer, David Boies, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reporters said this:

I tried some cases before Mississippi state court judges who were just great,and I also tried cases in front of Mississippi judges who were just terrible. There is undoubtedly some real corruption – where a judge does something for money or favors. But I think that is a very small problem in Mississippi, and a tiny problem in most places. The bigger problem is where judges do things because they know the people, because they like the people, because they’re comfortable with the people. That’s a much more difficult thing to get your arms around, partly because its human nature. And the problem’s not unique to Mississippi. [Emphasis added.]

To earwig means, in its essence, to play on the human frailty of liking people whom we think are our friends, people we feel comfortable with, our hunting buddies, our golf buddies, our lawyer group buddies, the "brothers" in those "fraternities" of which we like to think we are a part.